Day Five: Sequoia National Park

Yesterday's campground had California quail. This morning's campground had acorn
woodpeckers. They peck holes in trees and put acorns in them. The telephone pole beside our campsite was riddled with holes.

As I said earlier, Sequoia National Park was just eight miles down the road. In the park, Sequoia trees tend to be clustered in groves. (Pictures) Groves does not mean only sequoia trees lined up in neat rows. Groves means a concentration of Sequoia trees with lots of other evergreens mixed in. In fact, most trees in the groves are the other evergreens.

Despite being hundreds of feet tall, their roots only about 3 feet underground. As long as the root system remains in tact these trees continue growing until they fall over. When they fall over they create an opening in the forest for many new Sequoia trees to grow. It is common to see three or four Sequoias in a row.

Sequoia bark doesn't burn well because it lacks pitch. Since the big Sequoias are so old, they have lived through many fires. Many Sequoia trees have openings in the bark and you can see the insides blackened by past fires. The tree rings of Sequoias can show the history of local forest fires.

In fact, fire has an important role in the spread of Sequoia trees. The trees produce thousands of 3-inch long cones with tiny seeds. These seeds can remain on the tree for 20 years. The cones remain closed until fire opens the cones releasing the seeds. Fire also exposed the forest floor so the seeds could germinate in the soil.

The forest service practice of stopping fires allowed old leaves, limbs and other vegetation to build up on the forest floor preventing the Sequoia seeds from reaching the floor and germinating. So for a while no new Sequoia trees were starting. For the past 25 years, the forestry service has introduced controlled fires to clear away brush and exposing the forest floor to allow new Sequoia trees to grow.

After a day looking at Sequoias, we headed down to Fresno and then north again on highway 41 toward Yosemite National Park.